Emulating Oric-1 floppy disk hardware

This device is called the Cumulus and it’s used to emulate the floppy disk hardware for Oric-1 and Oric Atmos computers. These 1980’s era computers included an expansion slot to which you could connect a floppy drive. That module, called a Microdisc system, also included the driver circuit which means you can’t just use a modern-day floppy drive as a replacement. [Retromaster] sidestepped the need for magnetic media all together by building an SD card interface which emulates the original module. We can tell by the use of a color screen and clean board layout that a lot of love went into the project. A CPLD implements the communications protocol used by the Microdisc system and creates all of the registers that would have been found on the original hardware. A PIC takes care of the SD card communications and the user interface.

It is also a good note that backing up old floppies can be an asset and a treasure trove for future hackers-to-be.And with current media capacity, that is easier than ever as well as the ability to repair corrupt files in a moments notice :D.

(And yes, I’m posting similar messages on all Cumulus related posts, mostly because it’s probably going to be a one of a kind event, I doubt we will do a second batch after that, way too much of a hassle to organize!)